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Wealth and Want | |||||||
... because democracy alone is not enough to produce widely shared prosperity. | |||||||
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The rich get rich and the poor get
poorer
You may not be old enough to remember the song http://www.bauaw.org/2004/12/bauaw-newsletter-tuesday-dec-28-2004.html
AIN'T WE GOT FUN? Words by Gus Kahn and Raymond B. Egan; Music by Richard Whiting,1921 http://www.rienzihills.com/SING/aintwegotfun.htm
Bill
collectors gather 'round and rather haunt the cottage
next door, Men the grocer and butcher sent, Men who call for the rent. But within, a happy chappy, and his bride of only a year, Seem to be so cheerful, Here's an ear full of the chatter you hear: Ev'ry morning, Ev'ry evening, Ain't we got fun? Not much money, Oh but honey, Ain't We Got Fun? The rent's unpaid dear, We haven't a bus In the winter, in the summer, Don't we have fun? Times are bum and getting bummer, Still we have fun. There's nothing surer: The rich get rich and the poor get poorer In the meantime, In between time, Ain't we got fun? Just to make their trouble nearly double, Something happen'd last night. To their chimney a gray bird came, Mr. Stork is his name. And I'll bet two pins A pair of twins just happen'd in with the bird. Still they're very gay and merry, Just at dawning I heard: Ev'ry morning, Ev'ry evening, Don't we got fun? Twins and cares dear, come in pairs, dear, Don't we have fun? We've only started, As mommer and pop, Are we downhearted, I'll say that we're not! Landlords mad and getting madder, Ain't we got fun? Times are bad and getting badder, Still we have fun! There's nothing surer, The rich get rich and the poor get laid off In the meantime, In between time, Ain't we got fun? When the man who sold 'em carpets told 'em, He would take them away, They said "Wonderful! here's our chance! Take them up, and we'll dance!" And when burglars came and robb'd them Taking all their silver, they say. Hubby yell'd "We're famous, For they'll name us in the papers today!" Night or daytime, It's all playtime, Ain't we got fun? Hot or cold days, Any old days, Ain't we got fun? If wifie wishes, To go to a play, Don't wash the dishes, Just throw them away! Street car seats are awful narrow, Ain't we got fun? They won't smash up our Pierce Arrow, They've cut my wages, But my income tax will be so much smaller, When I'm paid off, I'll be laid off Winston Churchill: The People's Land
Every form of enterprise only
undertaken after the land monopolist has skimmed the
cream off for himself It does not
matter where you look or what examples you select, you
will see that every form of enterprise, every step in
material progress, is only undertaken after the land
monopolist has skimmed the cream off for himself, and
everywhere today the man or the public body who wishes to
put land to its highest use is forced to pay a
preliminary fine in land values to the man who is putting
it to an inferior use, and in some cases to no use at
all. All comes back to the land value, and its owner for
the time being is able to levy his toll upon all other
forms of wealth and upon every form of industry.
A portion, in some cases the whole, of
every benefit which is laboriously acquired by the
community is represented in the land value, and finds its
way automatically into the landlord's pocket. If
there is a rise in wages, rents are able to move forward,
because the workers can afford to pay a little more. If
the opening of a new railway or a new tramway or the
institution of an improved service of workmen's trains or
a lowering of fares or a new invention or any other
public convenience affords a benefit to the workers in
any particular district, it becomes easier for them to
live, and therefore the landlord and the
ground landlord, one on top of the other, are able to
charge them more for the privilege of living
there. ... Read the
whole piece
Clarence Darrow: How to Abolish Unfair Taxation (1913)
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Wealth and Want
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www.wealthandwant.com
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... because democracy alone hasn't yet led to a society
in which all can prosper
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